The Swiss attacker entered the second half and decided a match that delivered three very important points to the Devil in the Champions League. Pellegrini, Marusic and Guendouzi sent off
The Devil’s tail is always the same: Noah Okafor, who scored Udine’s goal in the 93rd minute, did it again. At the Olimpico he carried on with his work, “ahead” of a few minutes compared to the last time: in the 88th minute the Swiss defeated Provedel’s gloves and also defeated Lazio, giving Milan a success that weighs heavily, especially after the words of Gerry Cardinale yesterday in London. The Rossoneri secure third place and get closer to Juventus, while for Sarri it’s the middle of the night at home. There hasn’t been a home win since January 14th, and Di Bello’s cards have drained the team: the Biancocelesti finished with eight against eleven due to the expulsions of Pellegrini, Marusic and Guendouzi, the latter two arriving late on.
first, don’t take them
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In the Biancoceleste 4-3-3, Vecino wins the run-off over Cataldi in midfield, while up front it’s up to Castellanos to move to the center of the trident completed by Felipe Anderson and Zaccagni, with Immobile on the bench. Pioli proposes the 4-1-4-1 seen with Atalanta, Kjaer for Thiaw the only change compared to the match against the Nerazzurri: Bennacer takes over Luis Alberto, with the double task of crushing the Lazio 10 and inserting himself when the opposing shirts they widen. The point is that in the first half it almost never happens, neither on one side nor the other: Lazio and Milan seem worried first of all about not revealing themselves too much. The result is a first part of the match lacking in opportunities: Vecino’s touch which in the 8th minute ends up out of nowhere (the Uruguayan comes out from behind and collects a header from Anderson following the development of a corner) and the by Pulisic in the 46th minute (Milan’s first shot on target, deflected for a corner by Provedel, and Giroud wastes a header on the corner) frame the first half. In the middle, a contact in the area between the outgoing Maignan and Castellanos on which the referee and VAR decide not to intervene, amid protests from the heated Olimpico.
red and noah
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The shock to the match was given by a red card, which materialized in an almost surreal way: minute 12 of the second half, Castellanos ends up on the ground after contact with Bennacer, Pellegrini has the ball but slows down on the lateral foul line, probably to put it out but Pulisic takes it from him; the Biancoceleste full-back, already booked, tugs at the American and Di Bello warns him for the second time. Tempers heat up on the sidelines, the stadium protests, while Sarri and Pioli try to shake up the evening with substitutions. The Biancocelesti coach inserts Hyasj and Immobile for Luis Alberto and Castellanos, the Rossoneri coach plays the cards Calabria, Reijnders and then Okafor (Bennacer, Florenzi and Adli out). Milan pushed and arrived in the area with a weak shot from Giroud, a cut from Reijnders that was barely collected by Okafor and a volley from Loftus-Cheek blocked by Provedel. Lazio suffers but comes close to scoring with Immobile, served by Isaksen (entered for Zaccagni): the blue striker devours a goal that has practically been scored. The goal was scored a minute later – with the collaboration of Gila – Rafa Leao, who ran under the Rossoneri curve submerged by his teammates, but the VAR canceled it: on Reijnders’ pass the Portuguese was offside. The race under the curve is repeated two minutes from the 90th minute, but this time everything is good: the one who takes the shot is a boy with braids like Rafa, but who usually starts on the bench, comes in and solves the problems at the end. After Udine’s goal in the 93rd minute, Noah Okafor repeated himself at the Olimpico: on Leao’s cross (which was lit in the last part of the match) Provedel blocked the Swiss player’s first volley, but was unable to avoid the goal on the second attempt. The closing is a turmoil: between 94′ and 96′ Marusic and Guendouzi are sent off, the final whistle is very tense with a brawl between the Rossoneri and Biancocelesti.
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